Monday, December 21, 2015

Happy Holidays 2015

Since I didn't create a single post this year, I thought I would create a Holiday Card to summarize this year's fun and events, as well as wish everyone a very Happy Holiday Season.

Even the cat was sick of winter

While the very cold weather of early 2015 kept the pets close to the fireplace, I helped a friend bring his newly purchased Nordhavn 40 up the ICW.  Certainly we were heading the wrong direction for warmth, which I reminded him of often.

Moving the first Nordhavn 40 farther North


Here is a 21 minute video of the trip.  It might be a bit long to follow, but you can fast forward though some it to get the idea



Mckensie celebrated her first birthday.  Everyone came to Annapolis and Bonnie baked an incredible cake.

Mckensie got the top piece to play with
The winter continued to keep a strong hold on the area.  But I did get the drone up for some fun photos and videos.

Port Annapolis Marina
Flying over Port Annapolis
Fishing Creek Flyover

Oyster Creek and Chesapeake Bay Flyover

Eric and John Grunsfeld
This winter I got to see John Grunsfeld at the Cosmos Club.  He was speaking at the 25th Anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope lecture at the Philosophical Society of Washington.

They publish the videos of their lectures at www.pswscience.org. I am still a Member at Large volunteering and advising on IT matters and their website.

Spring finally did come and we launched the boat and began warm weather activities.  One of our residents scheduled a Waterman for Day trip for our community and a group of young people and adults got to work nets and learn more about the Bay.


I volunteered over the summer on the safety boat for two classic sailboats that take people out on Wednesday nights to experience old time 'sandbagger' sailboats.

Working the safety boat
We got out for a couple weekends on the boat.  Once weekend, returning from St. Michael's, we even had a beautiful run up the Miles River with the Spinnaker up.

Our eclectic spinnaker 

Picnic on the trampoline



400 clams ready for steaming in Cape Charles
Passing Thomas Point light just after sunset


2015 had us at two weddings of good friends.  One was at the Sagamore in upstate New York and the other was in Virginia at a winery. Bonnie made the cake as the wedding gift for the one in Virginia.

Bonnie's cake creation at Steven and Meagan's wedding
Bonnie built an outdoor kitchen over the summer. It turned out really nice and makes summer cookouts a blast.

Building an outdoor kitchen



My mom, Ian, Tyler and I joined my brother and his family for a trip to Nassau for Thanksgiving.  We did a few dives and some great sight seeing. My GoPro got a nice workout.

Mom, Tyler, Carl, and Eric
Tyler, Eric, Carl and Elena
Lisa, Kyle and Carl
Breezes was a decent resort, albeit the food was just okay
We certainly ate a lot of conch out in Nassau

Even did a Rum tasting
The Queen's Staircase
We hired a taxi and got a five hour tour of Nassau.  The driver was a great guy and we enjoyed his humor and insight.

Kyle, Ian, Eric, Mom and Carl

The diving was really great.  The winds and waves were high but it was warm and clear in the water.


Greetings from the Bahamas
Eric enjoying the Shark dive

Feeding the sharks





A not too well edited video from the wreck and shark dives

Winter has been easy so far this December.  We hope it stays that way.  This winter we plan on doing more house projects (Bonnie built a new master bedroom closet while I was SCUBA diving), and hopefully get a ski trip and/or more travelling in.

We wish all of our friends and family Happy Holidays, and a joyful, safe and prosperous New Year.

Happy Holidays from Bonnie and Eric